Which Blu-ray?

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I am looking at replacing my Sony DVP-S725D dvd player with a Blu-ray player. I am on a fairly limited budget and have read your reviews of the PanasonicDMP-BD30/35 with interest. I have a Panasonic TH-42PX60B plasma so I figure that either would go well with that, however my amp is a Denon AVR-3802 which is great but I am a little concerned / confused about compatibility and connections (I guess that I could use the optical/analogue co-ax?) Which would be best suited to use with this amp?

I also have my Sony dvd connected to the plasma with a Qunex P-CV component interconnect, will this be the best way to connect the blu-ray player to the plasma?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Big Chris]

You can get the Sony BDP-S350 for £196.68 inc delivery on dabs.com. Out of stock at present, but still worth a look unless you're in a rush.

Oh yeah, HDMI is the way to connect to your plasma (if it has one that is).

 

[professorhat]

The Denon has no HDMI in so you'd have to hook up using the co-axial / optical connection from whichever Blu-Ray player you choose. This means you can't get full HD audio, but the sound should be a slight improvement over DVD.
Your other option to get HD sound (other than getting a new amp of course) is to get a Blu-Ray player with multi-channel outputs and has the ability to decode all the HD formats onboard (like the Sony BDP-S550 or the Panasonic DMP-BD55). This can plug into the Denon and deliver the HD audio via the 5.1 / 7.1 multichannel outputs.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. I'm not really up to speed with the current formats and how good they are compared to older formats so this has led to further questions I'm afraid.

1 If I was to get a Blu-ray player that can decode all the HD formats, it appears that the only way to put those through the amp is via the analogue outputs. Why is it not possible through the co-ax/optical connection.

2 Does HD audio have to be through 7.1 or is it still good through 5.1? I have a 5.1 set up at the moment with the Kef 3005 but could look at increasing this at some point if I need to. Is full HD audio a huge improvement over Dolby digital?

3 If I was to replace my amp (I wasn't intending to prior to looking into Blu-ray) what would give at least as good audio performance as my current Denon AVR-3802?

Thanks again.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

garrym2:
Thanks for the info. I'm not really up to speed with the current formats and how good they are compared to older formats so this has led to further questions I'm afraid.

1 If I was to get a Blu-ray player that can decode all the HD formats, it appears that the only way to put those through the amp is via the analogue outputs. Why is it not possible through the co-ax/optical connection.

2 Does HD audio have to be through 7.1 or is it still good through 5.1? I have a 5.1 set up at the moment with the Kef 3005 but could look at increasing this at some point if I need to. Is full HD audio a huge improvement over Dolby digital?

3 If I was to replace my amp (I wasn't intending to prior to looking into Blu-ray) what would give at least as good audio performance as my current Denon AVR-3802?

Thanks again.

1. The coaxial and optical cables do not have sufficient bandwidth for HD audio. You could connect your plasma using component (it won't be as good as hdmi but it will still look great). It all depends on your budget. You could change receiver and not have to buy a more expensive bluray player and keep your cables down - you would only need one hdmi from receiver to BD player.

2. HD audio can be got using 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1. You can build it up gradually. I'm waiting for my BD player to arrive before I will know for sure but apparently it is much better than DD.

3. It's impossible to tell as I haven't heard your 3802. I would suggest something like the new Denon 2309 would be as good as would the 2808 - both offer HD audio through hdmi.

I would say that if your plasma is component only, I would keep with your current receiver at the moment and go down the analogue route for audio. The difference in price for a bd player that has onboard decoding and multi channel out over one that hasn't, is fairly small.

 

[professorhat]

Just to add - the majority of discs out at the moment with HD audio soundtracks only offer 5.1 - there's very few 6.1 or 7.1 titles - obviously this may change in the future, but your 5.1 setup is most definitely not out of date yet.
The main upgrade with HD audio is the soundtrack is less compressed or, in the best scenarios, lossless. Think of it like comparing the difference between a song in heavily compressed MP3 format and then a CD version - the CD will sound much better as there is lot more detail in the sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that. That makes sense & at least I wont have to replace my amp. I guess if I get either the Panasonic BD55 or the Sony BDP 550 then I will have caught up with the current standard for my system.

I have looked around and haven't been able to find any reviews of the two against each other, does one out perform the other?

I have got hdmi on my plasma and have just bought a QED PHDMI lead to connect from sky HD. I will probably get another one of these to connect Blu-ray to plasma. Without spending huge amounts, what would be good interconnects to get? I do already have a pair of QED Qunex4s that I used to use on a pair of power amps.

Thanks again, all the info has been really useful as I haven't bought much kit for a while and am trying to catch up with things again.

 

[professorhat]

For a comparison of the two Blu-Ray players, watch for WHF's Awards Issue on 16th October - this should have all the BD players around that price competing against each other.
On the interconnects, I can recommend Chord Crimsons at about £30 each - might be a bit steep given you need at 4-6 pairs of them! A lot of people recommend eBay for cables as you can get a good pair secondhand much cheaper than new. Just make sure you check out the seller's reputation first.